A longtime southeast Colorado Springs advocate hopes to build on her community-building mission with the recent opening of a coffee shop.

Juelz Morse-Ramirez, a 32-year-old who grew up in the southeast, created Stompin’ Groundz,  2050 Jet Wing Drive, to be a place where locals can go to hang out, share their culture and ideas and foster a sense of community around the shop, which celebrated its grand opening July 7.

“We’re really trying to capture the essence of the southeast in a way that most people don’t think about us as a community because we tend to have a more negative stereotype,” Ramirez said.

The philosophy stems all the way down to the shop’s roots and from the art on the walls to the shelves that are lined with artifacts and memorabilia, including drawings and awards, from community members who’ve come to the shop.

For the art, Ramirez worked with Brayan Montes-Terrazas — an artist known as “Yamz.World” on Instagram who creates art meant to uplift marginalized voices — to capture various landmarks in the southeast area such as Panorama Park.

As a Latin person who is a lifelong Coloradan, Montes-Terrazas was inspired by Ramirez’s mission and believes his art adds to it.

“Gentrification is taking over our communities now more than ever, and that means pushing back on whatever space we can to make it something of our own,” he said.

The 2,700-square-foot shop, which seats around 55 people, is open and inviting, Ramirez said.

“Stompin’ Groundz is just about, you know, reclaiming our community, reclaiming our neighborhood, becoming more involved in our neighborhood and having something to be proud of … and I like the play on words — Stompin’ Groundz,” Ramirez said.

The shop has quickly become a community hub with a successful grand opening of about 200 people, according to Ramirez.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade, who owns two local coffee shops himself, visited the shop before it opened. He gave Ramirez a challenge coin, a military tradition that honors hard work and excellence.

“I am so proud of Juelz Morse-Ramirez for taking the plunge. Entrepreneurship and small business ownership is not for the faint of heart,” Mobolade said in a Facebook post.

That plunge involves a lot of experimentation and training for the first year, Ramirez said.

Ramirez wants to offer a wide variety of coffee drinks and provide more seasonal drinks like s’mores lattes.

She plans to get a liquor license as well.

Activities and events are also in the works, including comedy shows, journaling workshops and art days. Ramirez is also utilizing the space for podcasts like her “Meet the Locals” podcast.

“It’s a totally different vibe than most Colorado Springs coffee shops,” Ramirez said.

Her podcasting experience dates back to 2020 with her “Daily Dose 719” series that is still going. The series started as a six-part video series that shared the history and current state of the southeastern part of the city and has branched out into other aspects like health equity in the area.

Becoming an owner of a coffee shop wasn’t initially on Ramirez’s bucket list. After finishing her degree in education, she planned to become a high school history teacher, but her experience doing a lot of community work in college and her time in an entrepreneurial program inspired her to start a business.

As she became more involved in the community, she wanted to open a meeting space for residents.

As her entrepreneurial spirit was developing in 2019, the five-year-long project in opening Stompin’ Groundz started. She partnered with Solid Rock CDC, a nonprofit organization that focuses on revitalizing the area and had grant funding available.

A few years later, including a new location and survival of a few “hiccups,” the coffee shop is up and running.